1. Field
The present invention relates generally to the establishment and use of a security association between a remote wireless device and a group of interconnected group devices.
2. Background
Low-power networks that wirelessly transfer data over short distances are becoming prevalent due to advantages over traditional wired connections that use cables. Bluetooth and ZigBee are examples of standards for short range wireless networks.
Wireless communications between wireless peer devices may use a pairing process to establish a long-term master key. For security purposes, the pairing process generally requires a user's involvement for authorization and verification. Thus, a remote wireless device may need to separately pair with each device within an interconnected group of devices, which may burden or otherwise inconvenience the user.
Alternatives to multiple pairings are the use of a public key infrastructure or a central authentication server. However, these alternatives generally increase the capability level and provisioning cost of remote device. Also, it is often difficult to revoke a compromised certificate of a dormant or out-of-range device.
There is therefore a need for a technique for simple and efficient security for low-power wireless communications between a remote device and a group device.